Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Ah, what a story!  I have dreams like this from time to time where everything seems so real and confusing.  Poor Alice follows a rabbit down a hole and ends up in a world of talking animals, potions that make you grow smaller or larger, and decks of cards that play croquet and paint roses.  One thing I enjoyed about this book is the differences from the movie that I watched as a child.  Both are great and this is in my top 5 of favorite stories, no matter whether it is animated or the "live" versions.  Alice sees so many things and all she wants is for something to make sense.  Now I have heard that this book is supposed to have those hidden meanings, where Alice is supposed to be so and so and the white rabbit is someone and the Queen of Hearts is another person.  That I don't know, nor do I care about the hidden stuff that lurks in all these children's books.  I do know that it is an entirely enjoyable story that will entertain children from about age 8 to grown ups.  The version I had also had beautiful illustrations done in bright colors that were almost surreal.  Well done and a little odd which I felt suited the story perfectly.

[book:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|24213]

Boliche

Again, another blog not about books but about food.  That seems to be a theme with me lately.  I made Boliche for lunch yesterday.  It was wonderful.  Had not made it in years so it was like a brand new recipe for me.  It turned out really well.  I will probably not cook it as long next time but other than that it was really good.  Made black beans and yellow rice to go with it.  Next time I am going to make Milanesa Steak for Michael. 

Well, since I am on day four of no computer connections at work I guess I will read for a little while.  I am the only one who has internet and email....ssshhhhh!....don't tell the teachers or they will bring their work in here for me to do.  Can't do report cards or financial stuff or attendance so I am sort of stuck again.  It has been nice though because I have gotten my files straightened out, cleaned my desk out and just kind of relaxed.  Maybe it will last a couple more days.

Okay, back to my semi-work state.

Thursday

Well here we are at another Thursday.  This post has nothing really to do with books at all.  I am just bored and wanted to post something on this Thursday night.  Made Picadillo for supper tonight and it was yummy.  The kids even ate it.  I am very glad tomorrow is Friday because this has been a wild week.  Can't remember another week in a long time that has been this stressful and irksome.  Will be glad when work is over tomorrow and I can come back home.  We will be going to Jonathan's going away party Saturday night.  Sad to see him go but I know he will do well and the army will make him grow up and take on some responsibility in his life.  That is about it.  I think I will go make a Sweet Potato Pie now.  I have been craving one and have some sweet potatoes cooked and cooled for a pie.  Better get to it as it is already 7:00 and I am so tired. 

Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

We took the kids to the dollar movie after school yesterday and saw Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I was enchanted from the very beginning with everything- the scenery, characters, the storyline, everything.  I really liked the first movie when the kids first went to Narnia.  But I missed the second movie about Prince Caspian.  So I was a little confused but not to the point where it bothered me or made the movie unenjoyable.  It just made me want to go back and watch the 2nd movie so I would be caught up.  I did not really have a favorite part because it was  all good.  There were not any draggy parts and each port where the Dawn Treader stopped was a new adventure and new problem for them to overcome.  Edmond and Lucy's cousin Eustace was an addition that was funny.  He was quite a pain in the rear and got a punishment that ended up making him a decent kid by the end.   GREAT MOVIE!

The Family Bones

I don't know how to review this book.  It started out with a lot of promise.  Creepy house, old well, maybe or maybe not haunted or possessed.  But then, the story took a weird twist and just seemed to dwindle down and get tired.  This would have made a good short story.  It almost seemed to me that so much of the conversation was an afterthought.  The characters were only partly developed and could have held so much more promise.  I kept waiting to hear more about the missing families.  Did Steven kill them?  How? Where did he hide the bodies?  What was in the canoe?  Instead of sticking with the horror/suspense story, the writer jumped completely off the platform and went with alien artificial insemination and supernatural gifts from another world.  I think it would have made a great demon/ghost/psychotic killer story.  But oh well.  It was odd and a quick read.  It took me an hour and a half from start to finish.
[book:The Family Bones|5585024]

Little House in the Big Woods

I always loved this book when I was growing up.  It starts the saga of Mary and Laura Ingalls.  They live with Baby Carrie, Ma and Pa in a little cabin in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.  Mary and Laura have never seen a town.  They work hard to help their Ma even though Laura is only 6.  They are expected to be good, quiet, well behaved children who do as they are told.  They know how to sew by hand, make butter, bake bread and are thrilled when they are given a small stick of candy.  At Christmas, Ma takes pans of clean snow and lets the girls pour hot molasses over it in swirls and patterns.  The cold snow hardens the molasses to make candy. The whole family works hard every day to gather, hunt, preserve and save so they always have enough food to see them through the long, cold, snowy winters.  There are bears and panthers and wild animals in the woods and all alone for miles, the small family surviving.
My girls' favorite part of this book is when they Ingalls go to visit their aunt and uncle.  Pa goes to help in the fields.  The girls have a cousin named Charley who is eleven.  Charley is rather spoiled and does not want to help his Pa in the fields.  He goes with the men but keeps disrupting the work by tricking the men by hollering across the field like he was hurt.  Three times the men stop work to run check on Charley and there is nothing wrong with him.  The fourth time they let him holler for a while and finally decide maybe he is really hurt.  All the time Charley had been fooling them and jumping up and down hollering, he had been doing it on a yellow jacket's nest.  Charley went back to his house and his own Ma and Laura's Ma had to cover him in mud and wrap him in sheets for all the stings.
I really enjoyed re-reading this book.  It made me wish for simpler times when people did things a simpler way and just lived their lives and took care of their families.
[book:Little House in the Big Woods|8337]

The Book of General Ignorance

Okay so I needed something light and easy to read in between tasks at work.  This seemed to fit the bill.  It is an easy book to read from for a little while and then stop if you have to.  Each topic is its own mini chapter of sorts.  I really enjoyed it and when finished I had to ask myself "is the stuff in it really true? Or is it made up?" Hmmmmmm....some of it sounds pretty far fetched and not easily verifiable.  But other items are pretty interesting and really made me think.  Like where did the saying "let them eat cake!" really come from.  Not from where I always thought, according to this book.  And which living thing will survive a nuclear disaster?  Not a cockroach after all....who knew?   All in all a really enjoyable read.  Great if you like little bits of knowledge and tend to want to know all the whys? and how comes? and but what abouts?  Great for adults and young adults.  Maybe for a kid that is really inquisitive and has the patience to deal with facts and some numbers.
[book:The Book of General Ignorance|410632]